


It’s a Hell of a View

by Hockey_3720



Series: Sitting on Top of The World [3]
Category: National Football League RPF
Genre: Arguments, Children, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 13:11:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14832896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hockey_3720/pseuds/Hockey_3720
Summary: “I miss football,” Danny suddenly admitted with closed eyes as he brought a hand up and placed it on Jules’ flat abdomen.“I know you do, Dola… You’ll be out there next season. Don’t worry,” Julian mumbled as he placed a kiss on Danny’s forehead again. “Go to sleep. You need it. I love you.”“You too,” Danny muttered as he fell into a comfortable sleep.





	It’s a Hell of a View

**Author's Note:**

> This is shit and I’m sorry

Danny woke up to a dark room as a burning feeling rose in his chest. He sucked in a deep breath to try to calm himself, but then his mouth began to water and he knew he was done. He slid out of his and Julian’s bed and darted to the bathroom where he practically tore off the toilet seat cover, and let the contents in his stomach empty out. 

Before Danny could flush he stayed there, on his knees, and squeezed his eyes shut as he let a long breath out through his nose. ‘Fuck’ he managed to get out before he was retching back into the toilet. 

He wiped the sweat from his brow and leaned forward to flush the toilet. After a few seconds, he moved back to his feet and slowly shuffled over to the sink so he could wash his hands and brush his teeth. 

When he slid back into bed, Julian moved next to him and then there was a hot hand placed on his bicep. “Are you okay, Bubs,” Julian’s sleepy voice mumbled, slightly muffled from his fluffy pillow. 

Danny sucked in a long breath, trying to make his stomach settle a bit more. “Y-Yeah… Think I have the flu.” 

Julian sighed and began to rub circular motions on Danny’s tanned skin. “I’m sorry, Danny. I should probably take the kids out, so they don’t get sick.” 

Danny scoffed and shook his head. “Are you serious? You think you can handle both of them? Brad is just getting potty trained… and Dylan is the craziest two year old I’ve ever seen. You think you can really take care of them outside of the house,” Danny questioned as all his muscles tensed. 

“Of course I can! I mean Brad is a chill kid, he’s happy just sitting down and looking at a picture book… Dyl… I can figure him out. He has just as much energy as I do… so… I think we’ll all be okay. You stay home and relax,” Julian mumbled and let out a long yawn. “Ugh. But I need more sleep right now.” 

Danny rolled his eyes. “We all do, Jules,” Danny mumbled as he let his eyes close, and he began to drift off. 

***

“Papa,” Brad called out from the back yard as he ran up to the sliding doors. 

Danny turned around with the mixing bowl in his hands and a towel draped over his shoulder. “What’s up bud,” he asked as he watched Brad slide open the screen door. 

“When is daddy going to get home,” he asked, his big blue eyes. “I miss him.” 

“Not much longer, bud, he just ran to the store! He should be back any minute,” Danny replied with a chuckle. Brad was so attached to Julian it wasn’t even funny. “Where’s your brother?” 

“Playing with the chalk outside,” Brad mumbled and tilted his head back toward the patio. 

“We’ll go play with him. I don’t want him to be left alone. Once I put the oatmeal cookies in the oven and wash the dishes you can both come back in and we’ll watch a movie. How does that sound?” Danny asked as he looked down at his son with an eyebrow raised. 

“Okay! Let me know when Daddy gets back,” Brad called over his shoulder as he ran toward his younger brother who was drawing on the back patio. 

Danny sighed and began mixing the contents in the mixing bowl. When he did so, the sweet smell of everything hit his nose, and his stomach instantly flipped. He sucked in a breath and held his breath, trying to get his stomach to settle— but nothing. His stomach still didn’t settle. He put the mixing bowl down on th- 

Danny’s eyes snapped opened, he was still in bed with light creeping through the sides of the shades, and his stomach was really flipping due to the sweet smell throughout the house. He quickly kicked his legs over the side of the bed and made his way to the bathroom, where he hurled into the toilet like he did just hours before. 

When he was done, he sighed and shook his head as he fell back onto his butt, locked his arms and leaned on his palms, “I fucking hate the flu,” he mumbled and threw his head back. 

He got up, flushed the toilet and brushed his teeth before sliding back into bed, completely ignoring that is was already 10. He sigh as his eyes slowly closed and all of his muscles relaxed. Danny fell back asleep to the faint voices of Julian and the kids interacting down stairs. 

Meanwhile, Julian was making pancakes as a breakfast for the kids before they hit up the New England Aquarium for the day. Brad was beginning to get fascinated by sea creatures, and well Dylan, he was happy as long as he was following his older brother around. 

Julian put plates with pancakes down in front of the kids and let out a sigh. “I’ll be right back boys, I’m going to go check on Papa and make sure he’s doing okay… and then we can go to the Aquarium.” 

“Okay Daddy! I’ll watch Dylan,” Brad responded with his mouth full of pancakes. 

Julian smiled and looked into what could be his blue eyes before nodded. “Thanks, Bubs! You’re such a good boy.” Brad shot him a big smile— one that was much like Danny’s. 

He sighed as he turned around and slowly made his way up the steps. When he got to their room, the shades were all still closed and Danny was lying on his stomach with drool trailing from his mouth and onto their grey sheets. 

Julian shuffled into the room with a small smile on his face and slid onto the bed, where he ran his hand through Danny’s hair. Danny sucked in a breath and slowly opened his eyes. The sids of his mouth tips up. “Hi,” he mumbled quietly. 

“Hey Bubs,” Julian’s hushed voice said as he looked down with a concerned look. “How are you feeling?” 

“Tired,” Danny’s sleep soaked voice mumbled after a second. “What’d you make them for breakfast?” 

Julian sighed and ran his thumb back and forth on Danny’s forehead. “They wanted pancakes,” Julian replied softly. 

“Smelled sweet… made me throw up.” Danny let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes again. “So tired.” 

“I’m sorry,” Jules mumbled and shook his head. “Stay in bed as long as you need, Bubs. I’ll be taking the boys to the Aquarium… and then we might be going to Gillette so they can run around and get some energy out. Don’t hesitate to call if you need me.” 

Danny slowly nodded and moved his hand up to grasp Julian’s forearm. “Love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Julian whispered and leaned for to place a light kiss on Danny’s hot forehead. “Get some rest.” 

“I will,” Danny mumbled before his hand slowly unlatched from Julian’s forearm and his eyes fell closed. 

Julian sighed and got off the bed. When he made it back down stairs, Brad was sitting with Dylan to make sure he finished the last few pieces on his plate. “Hey Boys,” Julian said as he slid into a seat and pulled Brad into his lap. 

Dylan’s brown eyes looked back at him. “Daddy,” Dylan’s perky voice practically screeched. His hands were reached out and his arms were flailing. 

Julian adjusted Brad in his lap and leaned over to please a kiss in Dylan’s forehead. “Hey Dyl, you want to be a big boy and eat the last few pieces of your food?” 

Dylan continued to look back at him. Julian’s heart felt like it was being squeezed— the kid was a spitting image of Danny, but his hair was just a bit lighter. “Okay!” He reached forward and grabbed the sticky syrup covered pancakes with his hands and stuffed them in his mouth. 

Julian sighed. “Dyl! What have I told you about using your hands to eat your pancakes?! You should use your fork,” Julian scolded. Dylan’s brown eyes began to well up. Julian’s eyes slowly closed and he sucked in a breath. 

Dylan began to wail out, and Julian’s eyes snapped back opened. He lifted Brad off his lap and placed him down on the ground. “Hey bubs, how about you go up to your room? I’m going to get Dylan ready… and then we can go to the aquarium.” 

Brad rapidly nodded and then scurried out of the room and up the steps. Julian stood up and got Dylan out of his high hair and rested him on his hip. “Shh! You don’t wanna wake Papa, do you?” 

Dylan’s big eyes looked up at Julian and he stopped crying at the sound of ‘Papa’. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks as Julian began to bounce him a bit. “N-No.” 

“Then lets go get you cleaned up. You can’t eat everything with your hands bud,” Julian mumbled as they made their way into the bathroom down the hall. 

“S-sorry.” 

Julian couldn’t get mad. The big brown eyes that were looking up at him were his weakness. 

*** 

Later on that night, Julian and the kids got home around six to Danny lounging on the couch with a few saltines sitting on a plate next to him, while watching House Hunters. 

Dylan was passed out in Julian’s arms and Brad was nearly sleep walking. At the aquarium, Brad was excited and couldn’t help but run to each exhibit three of four times. The one he was most excited about was the seals. Dylan on the other hand, spent most of the time in Julian’s arms, fascinated by the large sea turtles. 

When it came to going to Gillette at about three, Julian gave Brad a few magazines to look through, because he loved pictures and acting like he could read. Dylan, though, he was very excited to be at Daddy and Papa’s place of work. He wanted to be just like the two of them, so when Julian gave him a kid sized football, he threw it around and attempted to throw it to himself multiple times. Julian was quite amused to watch that as he pedaled on the exercise bike. 

Julian got both of the kids settled in their beds and then slowly trailed down the stairs. “How are you feeling, Dola,” Julian asked as he sunk down onto the couch next to Danny and draped an arm over his shoulders. 

Danny sighed and leaned into Julian’s warmth. “Okay. I woke up at one and was hungry. I grabbed the jello that was in the fridge… I was able to eat that… Kept it down for two hours… And… Then threw up again.” Danny let out a huff and rested his hand on Julian’s shoulder. 

Julian sighed and tilted his head so it was resting on top of Danny’s. “I’m sorry. I’m sure tomorrow will be better. The boys missed you, especially Dyl.” 

“I-I’m sorry. I know we only have another two weeks before camp starts. I thought that we’d all be going somewhere. Maybe next week. Something tells me this is going to be a long season,” Danny mumbled and brought a hand up so it was resting on Julian’s thigh. 

“I’m sure we’ll be able to do something before camp starts,” Julian replied as his free hand was placed on top of Danny’s. 

“I didn’t mean to get sick,” Danny whispered as his eyes closed. “I swear.” 

Julian huffed. “I know you didn’t, Bubs. It’s okay though, I love you and the boys love you. You’ll be better soon.” 

“I know… I-I…” Danny paused and yawned. “I’m so tired right now.” 

“Let’s get up to bed then,” Julian mumbled as he stiff from the couch and held his hand out for Danny to take. 

Danny gladly took it and slowly shuffled up the stairs with Julian by his side. 

*** 

The following day, Danny was completely fine. He was able to eat, and keep all of his foods down. One problem though, was he couldn’t shake the tiredness that completely surrounded him. 

Two days after Danny originally got sick, he was feeling even more sluggish than normal, and unusually sore, so he slipped out of bed before Julian could wake up and made his way to Gillette to meet with one of the team doctors. The doctor wasn’t very happy about needing to be in so early, but he also understood that Danny didn’t want Julian to know how much this sickness was bothering him. 

When he got there, he slipped inside in his shorts and T-shirt and made his way to the medical room where Gary Fuller, the team doctor, was. 

“Good morning, Danny,” Dr. Fuller mumbled as he looked up from his laptop. “How are you today?” 

Danny sighed as he hopped up on the examination table and let his legs swing back and forth. “Okay. I’m really tired right now. And I’m unusually sore,” Danny mumbled as he watched the doctor stand up from his chair and put on some hand sanitizer.

“And you said that you were throwing up all day Monday? And you were unusually tired all day yesterday? Now you’re really sore and still tired? Have you thrown up at all since Monday,” Dr. Fuller asked as he made his way around the desk so he was standing in front of Danny with a clipboard in his hands. 

Danny sighed and nodded. “Yeah, and no I haven’t… but I haven’t been eating much because my stomach keeps feeling sick. And… And Jules is worrying about me. I want him to stop worrying about me and focus on the kids,” Danny admitted.

The doctor sighed. “Well Danny, all the symptoms you’re telling me sound like the side effects of the flu and or food poisoning,” the doctor replied as he looked down at his clipboard. 

“Let’s have you come over here and stand on the scale.” Danny hopped up and walked over to the scale, where he stepped on it. 

“Hmm,” Fuller mumbled as he adjusted the bars on the scale so he could read the weight. 

He quickly jotted down something and then sighed. “Now let’s have you head back to the table so I can check your blood pressure.” 

Danny sat back down and let the doctor cuff around his arm. The doctor began to pump it, and let out a huff. “It’s a bit high, but nothing to worry about,” He mumbled before he sighed and pulled the cuff off Danny’s arm. “Can I have you take your shirt off, Danny?” 

“Yeah,” Danny mumbled and pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the table behind him. 

The doctor moved behind him and placed his stethoscope on his back, did the usual breath in and breathe out routine— then moved to the front and did the same. “Let’s have you lie on your back now.” 

Danny obliged and put his hands behind his head as he lied back and stared at the ceiling. “Tell me if anything feels sore, okay?” Danny nodded and the doctor began to press his fingers lightly into the waistband of Danny’s shorts, right near his hip bones. 

Just as the doctors hands got above his waistband, Danny’s breath hitched and he sucked in a long breath. “That… that hurts a bit,” he mumbled and squeezed his eyes shut. 

The doctor didn’t say anything, just continued to move his hands around Danny’s body. When he got to the external obliques, Danny jerked away and let out a groan. “Oh god. That… That hurts so much.” 

“If it’s that area that hurts, I’m going to have to do an ultrasound. You might have the start of a hernia,” the doctor mumbled as he looked down at Danny with concerned eyes. “You can sit up, I have to set up the machine.” 

Danny sat up and ran his hand through his dark hair. He closed his eyes for a second. This was going to take longer than he thought it would. He slid his phone out of his pocket and looked at the time 8:07– Jules had to be up by now. 

He clicked on Julian’s contact and brought the phone up to his ear. 

“Bubs,” Julian’s frantic voice asked once the line was connected. “Where are you?” 

“I’m sorry I wasn’t specific on where I was, Jules,” Danny mumbled, sadness in his voice. “I-I… just focus on the kids right now, okay?” 

“Danny, where are you? What’s wrong!?” Julian’s voice got more frantic with each word he said. 

“I-I… Dr. Fuller is checking me out right now. He thinks I’ve got a hernia… he’s about to do an ultrasound. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But… you… you should stay with the kids and don’t think about coming here.” 

Julian let out a sigh. “Fine. But… please let me know when you find out, okay? I’m worried about you.” 

“I-I love you,” Danny mumbled and ran a hand down his face.” 

“I love you, too. We’ll talk about this when you get home,” Julian replied after a second, he seemed like he was rushed all of the sudden. “I’m about to give Dylan a bath… I’ve gotta go.” 

“Okay… bye,” Danny said softly and looked down at his lap. “Love you, Jules.” 

The line went dead, and Danny pulled the phone away from his ear with a sigh. 

The doctor then came into the room, rolling the ultrasound machine with him. Danny lied back into the table and closed his eyes. Then the cold gel hit his warm skin, making him flinch. 

“Sorry,” Dr. Fuller mumbled as he flipped the machine on and began to spread the cold gel around on Danny’s abdomen. 

After a second the wand came to a stop and was rested in one place, so Danny opens his eyes. Doc Fuller had his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the screen. It took a few, but the concentrated look on the doctors face turned into a smile, which made Danny look at him with a confused look.!

“Well, Danny, it looks like you and Jules are expecting lucky number three,” Dr. Fuller said, but before Danny could hear anything else, his whole world went black. 

When Danny opened his eyes again, he was still in the examination room and there was a cool towel over his forehead. 

“Welcome back, Danny,” Dr. Fuller greeted as he stood up and looked down at Danny. 

Danny just looked up at him with his wide brown eyes. “Uh… yeah…” 

“I take it that you remember what I just told you a few minutes ago,” the doctor asked as he raised his eyebrows. 

Danny gave him a half nod. “Uh… yeah… I… oh god.” 

“I think you’re going to have to go see your doctor as soon as possible. I cannot diagnose anything like due date and date of conception and such, because I am not qualified to do so.”

“I-I… yeah… I’ll set up an appointment with Ashley,” Danny mumbled and put his hands over his face. 

Everything escalated so quickly. 

*** 

Danny sat in the car outside of Gillette, completely frozen with his hands on the wheel. “How the fuck am I pregnant!? We’ve been so careful,” he sighed and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. 

“I don’t have much time left to play.” Tears began to roll down his face as the realization hit him. He was going to be 34 soon, and he didn’t how long he was going to be able to play— how much time he had left… then the worst thought hit him, he didn’t know if he’s ever get to be on the field again. 

“Oh god,” he groaned out as a sob shook from his chest. If they had another, it’d make it significantly harder to not only take care of, but during the season, it’d be close to impossible. Gisele probably wouldn’t be able to help out as much… and Rob… oh god, life was going to get so much harder. 

Danny sucked in a breath and shook his head. He had to go home, he knew that, but he also knew that he couldn't go home with tear stained cheeks and puffy red eyes- Jules would know something was up. 

“Fuck my life,” he mumbled and turned his key. The engine roared to life and he shifted the car into reverse. 

Danny purposefully took the long way home, because it gave him time to think. When he got home, his hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel so hard. He shifted his car into park, and sighed before he made his way in. 

“Papa! You’re home,” Dylan called out and then came stumbling around the corner. He smashed into Danny’s legs and hugged him as tightly as he could. 

“Hey, Dyl,” Danny said softly and bent down to pick him up and rest him on his hip. “How are you?” He placed a kiss on Dylan’s forehead. 

“I missed you,” Dylan squealed as he wrapped his arms around the back of Danny’s neck and hugged him. 

“I missed you too, Bud,” he mumbled into Dylan’s neck and began to walk further into the house where Julian and Brad were sitting on the couch reading a book together. 

“Hey,” Danny mumbled as he moved into the living room and sunk down next to Julian and Brad. 

Julian was looking back at him with big blue concern eyes. “What’d Doc day,” he questioned as he moved the arm he had around Brad to place it on Danny’s thigh. 

Danny sucked in a breath and shook his head. “He didn’t know. I’m going to have to go to another doctor next week sometime,” Danny lied and adjusted Dylan in his lap, so his head was resting on Danny’s chest. 

Julian frowned and squeezed Danny’s thigh a bit higher. “When’s the appointment,” Julian asked. 

Danny sighed. He made an appointment with Ashley for tomorrow before he left the Gillette, but he didn’t want to tell Julian until he was absolutely sure so he had to lie. “Fuller said it was be for either next Tuesday or Wednesday. He’ll let me know when.” 

Julian nodded. “Okay. I’m concerned. Bubs… I really hope you’re okay.” 

“I do, too,” Danny whispered before Dylan shuffled in his lap. 

“Papa?” His big brown eyes looked up at him. “I’m tired. Can you take me to bed?” 

“Yeah, Bud, I can,” Danny said and moved to pick him up. He slowly made his way up the stairs with the sleepy child in his arms. 

He slid the toddler into his bed and placed a kiss on his forehead. “Sleep tight, bud.” Danny stood up straight, shuffled out of the room, and closed the door. When he turned around to walk toward the stairs, Julian was there, and lightly pinned him against the wall. 

“I love you,” Julian mumbled as he held Danny’s side lightly. 

Danny sighed and ducked his head so it was resting on Julian’s shoulder. “I love you, too, Jules,” Danny practically whispered and sucked in a long breath. 

“I really hope you’re okay, Bubs.” He pulled Danny into his body and squeezed him. “I just… please let you be okay.” 

“I-I… Me too,” Danny mumbled as he hooked his chin over Julian’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around Julian. 

Danny was beginning to see why Julian was the way he was when he found out about Brad. He now understood Julian’s fear of possibly never being able to do what you love. Danny loves both of his kids, and he knew he’d love this one too, but he was terrified about what would happen. His aging body probably wouldn’t be able to take it. 

“-ose that sound okay,” Julian’s voice brought Danny out of his thoughts. 

“Huh,” Danny asked as he pulled away from Julian and locked eyes with him. “What’d you’d say? I zoned out.” 

“Tom and Gisele are back in town… for your appointment… maybe the kids could go to their place for a play date,” Julian said, his blue eyes had a beautiful shine. 

Danny sucked in a breath and nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll let you know as soon as Fuller texts me the day and time… Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a nap.” He placed a small kiss on Julian’s cheek before pulling out of his arms and making his way to their bedroom without another word. 

*** 

The next morning, bright and early, Danny was sitting at the breakfast bar, chowing down on some eggs when Julian came bounding down the steps in just his underwear. 

“What are you doing down here to early,” Julian questioned with a yawn as he sat down next to Danny and looked over at him. 

“I was gonna head to the grocery store. Usually it’s easier to go right away in the morning so you don’t have to deal with people,” Danny lied as he ate his last bit of eggs. 

Julian nodded. “Okay. Can you get me some more almond milk?” 

Danny nodded. “Original or Vanilla?” 

Julian shrugged and leaned over to place a kiss on Danny’s cheek. “Surprise me,” he mumbled and stood up. “I’m going back to bed. I’ll see you in a bit, Bubs. Love you.” 

“I love you, too, Jules.” 

Twenty minutes later, Danny was on his way to Ashley’s office, but had to make a stop to throw up on the side of the road first. Suddenly he was very happy that he kept bottles of water in his car at all times. 

When he settled back into the driver's seat, he took a small swing of the clear liquid and waited for his stomach to calm down. After a minute or two, it calmed down enough for him to hit the road again. 

As he pulled into the parking lot, Danny’s heart began to race. This was his first time ever seeing Ashley alone. He always had Julian by his side, and now… Now Jules was at home fast asleep, thinking that Danny was out buying him his damn almond milk. 

Danny shifts the car into park, sucked in a breath, pulled out the keys, and got out of the car. When he got in the building, he was pleasantly surprised to see Virginia at the front desk. 

“Hi Danny, it’s great to see you again,” she greeted as she stood up. “No Julian today?” 

“N-No,” Danny stuttered and shook his head. “He stayed back to watch the kids.” 

She nodded. “Oh… Well, alright… Ashley is waiting for you,” she informed as she lead him down the hall and into the room Ashley was waiting in. 

“Hello, Danny,” she said with a smile on her face. “Didn’t think I’d see you for a while.” 

Danny let out a nervous laugh as he sat down on the examination table and ran his hand through his dark hair. “Me neither.” 

Virginia slipped out of the room as Ashley stood up from her chair and slid the ultrasound machine over. “Now,” she began, “Dr. Fuller sent me the ultrasounds he took. And from what I’ve seen thus far, is that the baby is completely healthy. We just need to do a further examination.” 

Danny slowly nodded, locking his dark eyes with her green ones. 

“You know the routine,” she mumbled as she leaned down to grab the gel. 

Danny slowly lift his shirt, and shimmied his shorts down a bit, then leaned back. The lights dimmed and then the cold gel was all over his abdomen. 

“Alright,” she mumbled as she looked at the screen. “Wow… okay… So… you’re about three and a half months along. I’m very surprised you’ve just found out.” 

“That far along?” Danny groaned. He’s drank in the past three months, especially with Jules’ birthday 2 months ago. “I’ve drank alcohol in the past two months! And I participated at OTA’s!” 

Ashley chuckled. “Danny, the baby looks to be perfectly healthy. There’s no need to freak out.” 

Danny let out a shaky sigh. “I-I know… but… ugh!” He shook his head and rubbed his hand down his face. “What are the chances I’ll be able to actually recover and play again?” 

“Well,” Ashley sighed as she leaned over and picked up a folder off her desk, “you’ll be 34 in November… You're in good shape, and you always have been. I’d say it’s a 80% chance to recover and are able to play to your full ability next season. I mean… you’re looking at a due date of sometime in January.” 

Danny sighed, but he was still scared. He was really beginning to see Julian’s side of things with Brad. Now, all that Danny could think was that maybe he shouldn’t have been so upset with Jules when he was all stubborn. 

“Now, I’m sure you remember all of the type of stuff you should be eating while you’re with baby,” Ashley began, “but this time, just because you’re getting older, I’m going to have you take some medications.” 

Danny swallowed and nodded as the ‘because you’re getting older’ echoed in his head. “Do- do you have my number? Just so Jules doesn’t know?” 

Ashley tilted her head in question. “Julian doesn’t know? You two weren’t trying?” A concerned look painted her face. 

“N-No. This is a surprise,” Danny mumbled and shook his head. “The team doctor diagnosed it.” 

“Is that why you’re so concerned with if you’re going to play again or not?” Ashley leaned back in her chair. All she needed was a clipboard and a pen and it would’ve looked like she was a therapist. 

Danny slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. “Yeah. This wasn’t planned at all, and I was really surprised because I’m having symptoms that I didn’t have with Dylan and Jules didn’t have with Brad.” 

“I’ve told the both of you. Every pregnancy is different. Like you may not show at all during this one… But… you probably will, because Julian was a fluke. You’ll be fine Danny. It looks like you’re looking at a due date of January 19th. And it’s completely healthy. It’ll all be okay,” she reassured and picked the wand up again. 

Danny leaned back and let her finish doing what she needed to do. All he could think about how much his life was going to change. 

*** 

When Danny got home nearly two hours after leaving for the ‘store’, he was practically dead in his feet, and only carrying three bags worth of stuff. 

Julian met him at the door and took the bags out of Danny’s hands. “This is all you got? You were gone for a while.” 

Danny shrugged. “Well the store I normally go to was completely out of almond milk,” Danny lied as he kicked his shoes off and followed Jules into the kitchen. 

“You didn’t have to get it, ya know. You probably could’ve just not have gotten me any. I still have some left, it could’ve waited,” Julian mumbled as he began to pull stuff out of the bags and put them where they belonged in the kitchen. 

Danny sighed. “You were expecting it, so I got it.” He was beginning to get irritated, and knew he needed a nap. 

Danny bent down to put the crackers he got in the carbonate and when he got back up, Julian was barricading him in by having his hands on either sides of Danny. “What’s wrong, Bubs?” 

“Nothing,” Danny grumbled and put a hand on Julian’s chest to shove Julian away. 

Julian’s hands moved from the counter to Danny’s sides, where he held him tightly. “Come on, Danny, somethings wrong.”

“I’m just really tired… Really achy. I want nothing more than to go to bed right now,” Danny mumbled as he looked down at the small gap between his and Julian’s bodies. 

“Has Doc Fuller texted you an appointment time yet?” Julian’s concerns blue eyes were looking into Danny’s tired brown ones. 

Danny sucked in a breath and nodded. “Uh… yeah,” his heart was beginning to race; he never lied to Julian, and now here he was living a lie… He was pregnant… And there was no appointment… “Thursday,” he finally said. 

Julian nodded and brought a hand up to Danny’s stubble covered cheek. “Okay… By the way… Dylan wanted to know if he could take his nap with you today.” 

“I-I… sure.” Danny didn’t care, he just wanted to go to bed. He blinked sleepily and tilted his head into Julian’s warm touch. 

Julian slowly leaned in and placed a small kiss on the corner of Danny’s mouth. “I love you,” Jules whispered as he rested his forehead against Danny’s. “So much, Bubs.” 

“I love you, too, Jules,” Danny mumbled. He closed his eyes and locked his lips with Jules. “But I’ve gotta go to sleep. I just can’t do this.” 

Julian sighed, but nodded. “Okay, Bubs.” He pulled away from Danny turned his attention over to the living room where the two kids were drawing at their kiddy table. “Dyl has been worried about you. He really misses you.” 

“I’m sorry,” Danny mumbled and ran a hand through his hair. “I-I… whatever… this is… is hitting hard.” 

“I know. Just… please make more of an effort. They both know something is up,” Julian told Danny as Danny began to make his way into the living room where the boys were. 

Danny chose to ignore that statement. “Hey guys,” he mumbled as he squatted down to their level. “Do you guys want to take a nap with Papa?” 

Brad’s big blue eyes looked up at him as he shook his head rapidly, but Dylan on the other hand had his brown eyes open wide and he was nodding his head. “Alright, Bud.” Danny grabbed ahold of his youngest son and placed him on his hip as he made his way up the stairs. 

“Papa?” Dylan’s head was resting on Danny’s shoulder as Danny strolled into his and Julian’s bedroom. 

“Yeah, Dyl,” Danny asked as he sat down and adjusted Dylan on his lap. Dylan was looking up at him contently. 

“Are you okay? You sleep more than me,” Dylan asked slowly. He moved one hand up so it fisted Danny’s black shirt. 

Danny swallowed and then nodded. “Yeah, Dyl, I’m going to be fine. Everything will be okay. I’m just really tired. Papa will be okay. I promise.” He leaned down and placed a small kiss on Dylan’s forehead. 

Dylan seemed to be pleased with that answer so he moved over rest his head on the pillow and waited for Danny to move over as well. 

*** 

Just two days before camp started, Danny and Jules went to Gillette to do some light workouts when coach Belichick popped into the exercise room. 

“Hey guys, meet me in Kraft’s office after you clean up,” he said as he popped in and then popped out. 

Both Jules and Danny exchanged confused looks but shrugged and got off the exercise bikes so they could head to the showers to clean up. Danny got nervous, because we swore there was the slightest slope present on his stomach. 

He did his best to keep Jules attention anywhere but his abdomen as they cleaned up and threw their street clothes. As they made their ways up to Krafts office, Danny’s heart began to race. He wasn’t sure what it was about, but he didn’t have a good feeling about it. 

When they stepped inside, Danny’s heart dropped, and his stomach began doing flips-- Doctor Fuller was there… That only meant one thing… They were walking about his situation. 

And fuck— he didn’t tell Julian yet! 

Danny felt like he was going to pass out as he collapsed into a chair right next to Julian. He held the arms tightly as the two of them looked straight ahead at Kraft, Dr. Fuller, and coach. 

“So, I’m sure you guys know why we’re having this meeting right now,” Kraft began as he leaned back. “We decided that we’d want to talk about this now because most of this will be happening during the season… Especially when we make the playoffs.” 

Danny looked straight ahead, a terrified look in his brown eyes. Julian’s blue eyes, however, had a look of confusion. 

“Wait, what,” Julian asked as he looked at the three men in front of him, and then to Danny. “Do you know what they’re talking about?” 

He couldn’t say anything-- Danny just looked at Julian with nervous eyes as he held his breath. 

“Danny?” Julian raised an eyebrow and then looked back over to Kraft. 

Doctor Fuller finally spoke up. “You haven’t told him, yet, Danny,” he asked as his eyes went wide. He exchanged a shocked look with both Kraft and Belichick. 

“Tell me what,” Julian questioned before Danny could respond. “Danny?! Tell me what?! What the hell is wrong?” His voice was beginning to get louder and louder. 

Danny stayed silent as he looked down at his lap, where he was twiddling his thumbs. No one said anything until Dr. Fuller muttered, “Just tell him, Danny.” 

When Danny looked up, there was fire in his eyes. He jumped up from the chair and kicked it back. “You want me to fucking tell him? Huh? You want me to fucking say it?” Danny turned to see a shocked Julian looking up at him. “I’m… I’m fucking pregnant, okay?! Now that we all know I’m just gonna go! I can’t do this! Not right now!” 

He practically darted out of the room. He had never been so thankful that Julian let him drive. When he got to the car, tears were already falling down his cheeks, but he didn’t waste any time turning the key, and tearing off. 

When Danny got home, he shoved through the doors, and made his way to one of the guest rooms, where he slammed the door shut and locked it. He collapsed on the bed and pulled his knees up as high as they could go. 

“I’m a fuck up,” he sobbed into the pillows. “I might not be able to play again… And I’ve lied to Jules… and… I’m a fucking terrible person. He probably doesn’t even want this baby!” 

Danny’s eyes fell shut, and white noise slowly took over his whole world. 

What brought Danny back to consciousness, was the sound of pots and pans being fumbled with in the kitchen. He sighed as his stomach began to churn. Within seconds, he was up and in the guest bathroom throwing up into the toilet.

Once he was finished, he took a sip of water from the sink, and slowly made his way back to the bed. He was lying on his side, in hopes that it would keep his stomach relaxed, and his achy back was stretched out. 

After what seemed like hours of staring at the wall ahead of him, the door to the room slowly swung open. Danny stayed still. 

“Danny,” Julian’s voice was flat and had zero emotion in it. Danny didn’t answer, just closed his eyes to make it seem like he was sleeping. “You need to eat.” He sounded stiff, and still frustrated. “Fine. Whatever.” The door slowly closed, and Danny was left alone again. 

He placed a hand on his stomach as tears began to roll down his face. 

The next two days were fairly uneventful. Danny spent most of the time lying in the guest bedroom, barely eating, and sleeping a lot. Julian clearly wasn’t happy with Danny, but he still did enough to help the older man, because he was pregnant after all. 

If Julian was being completely honest, he was over the fucking moon that him and Danny would have another little one running around soon… but on the flip side, he was extremely angry at Danny because Danny knew and didn’t tell him. 

He was hurt by it. He thought that Danny would tell him everything and anything, but clearly he didn’t. 

Julian was resting back on the couch watching some kids show with Brad on his lap when the door to the guest bedroom opened and Danny slowly shuffled out in a pair of shorts, and a sleeping Dylan in his arms. 

Jules eyes instantly focused on Danny’s abdomen… how far along was Danny? Julian didn’t know, but he did notice the small change in Danny’s usually rock hard abs. 

Just as Danny was about to take on the stairs, he looked over at Jules, and Jules looked back toward the tv. He could hear Danny sigh, and then the slow creeks of the steps. 

Danny got Dylan into his bed and sat down for a second. He had a strong headache coming on, and his back was absolutely killing him. As Danny looked down at his sleeping son, he couldn’t help but think that everything really was worth it. Brad and Dylan are his everything. 

It really bothered him that he may never get to be on the field playing again though. He sighed and shook his head. As he got up, his back popped and he immediately felt a bit of relief. 

When he got to the ground level of the house, he didn’t even think of looking Julian’s way, just shuffled to the guest bedroom and he was occupying for the past three days. A minute or two after lied back down on the bed, his right hand drifted to his stomach and rested there.

His eyelids fell shut, and his breathing began to slow as a sleep began to take over his body. However before he could completely fall asleep, the door to the room was opened, then closed and there was a dip on the bed behind him. Danny’s eyes popped back open.

“Danny,” Julian’s voice was the softest Danny had heard it since Julian found out. “I… We… We need to talk, Bubs. None of this is healthy for you.” 

Danny let out a huff slowly turned, and sat up so he was looking at Julian. Julian’s blue eyes had a soft loving look in them. 

“I was going to tell you.” Danny’s voice was small, but he knew Jules heard him by the way Julian’s eyebrows scrunched together. 

It was like Julian just let Danny’s words fly right by him. “Listen, I’m sorry, Bubs. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I’ve been treating you. It’s not right. You need to be healthy so the baby can be healthy… and… and… I’m just sorry. I really am. I’m happy that we’re having another… I’m over the moon happy about it, Danny. I… I… Just because,” Julian stopped for a second. 

Danny stared back at Julian with a confused look. 

“Just because I’m apologizing, though,” Julian’s voice was beginning to get stern, “It doesn’t mean I’m fucking mad. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I-I… I’m actually offended, Danny!” A few tears pulled from Julian’s eyes. He wiped them away with the heels of his hands. 

Danny sighed and reached forward to grab one of Julian’s hands. When he had it, Jules looked back up at him with his sad blue eyes. “I was going to tell you,” he repeated. 

“I couldn’t… I didn’t know how to tell you. I didn’t know if you’d want it right now. It wasn’t planned,” Danny practically whispered. His heart was beginning to race— he didn’t want to admit that he was scared, that he thought he may never play again. 

Julian shook his head and grasped Danny’s hand tightly. “I- Danny… I could never be mad about something like this. It takes two… I just… how far along are you? Do you know?” 

Danny sighed and thought for a second. “I should be four months next week,” he mumbled. 

Julian squeezed his hand a bit tighter and sucked in a breath to calm himself. “How… how long have you known?! Is it healthy?! When do we have to go see Ashley?” 

“Two weeks now… I-I went to see Ashley… That morning I went to the store… and yes, it’s definitely healthy… My next appointment with her is next week Thursday at seven PM, because of the training schedule,” Danny replied and blinked sleepily. “Where is Brad?” 

“Napping on the couch,” Julian mumbled as his eyes began to drift down to Danny’s abdomen. “I-I… I can’t believe that you’re pregnant. And I can’t believe you kept this from me.” Julian sniffled. 

Danny sighed, let go of Julian’s hand, and leaned back on his elbows. “I’m sorry, Jules. I’ll make it up to you.” 

As Julian kept his eyes on Danny’s middle region, his hand that was holding Danny’s moved there. Danny flinched at Julian touching him, which caused Julian to completely remove his hand and give Danny a quizzical look. 

“S-Sorry,” he mumbled as he thought about himself getting bigger and out of shape— he was beginning to feel sick. “I guess I gotta get used to people doing that again.” 

Julian nodded. “Please eat something,” he mumbled as he looked into Danny’s brown eyes sadly. 

“I-I’m not hungry,” Danny practically whispered and swiped Julian’s hand off his stomach. “I just wanna sleep.” 

“Come on, Bubs… I know you’re really tired and all… but… you need to eat. And too much sleep isn’t good for you,” Julian replied. “Please eat. If not for me… for the baby?” 

Danny sighed, but slowly nodded. 

*** 

Danny took the next week significantly harder. He was unbelievably jealous of Julian being able to participate in camp. He almost felt as if he didn’t have a reason to get up in the morning, but he knew he did because there were two innocent little boys waiting to be taken care of down the hall. 

On Wednesday morning, he slid out of bed and made his way to the master bathroom. When he flipped the light on, he sighed and shook his head at his reflection. 

His stomach was beginning to grow, while he liked it the first time he was pregnant, this time he didn’t. His reflection made his heart race. His and Julian’s surprise baby was in there, growing… and would make an appearance in five months. 

He began to think about Dylan. The little rascal was practically perfect. Didn’t really cause him any problems, and his birth was smooth. The way that he looked up at Danny for the first time, big eyes, little nose, and small lips. He was perfect… Of course Bradley was, too, but he was his own kind of perfect. 

Danny’s mind quickly moved to Bradley… Julian had it so damn easy. The worst thing he had to deal with throughout it was the bruised ribs from the big hit at the beginning. The beautiful asshole didn’t even lose his abs, now Danny was already losing his at four months.

He finally frowned at his reflection and moved so he could pee. He was surprised to find that the kids tired themselves out enough the day before, because they were still asleep and it was already 10. That meant Julian should be home any moment. 

After realizing the time, Danny decided it was probably a good idea to begin cooking for when the kids would get up. When he leaned down to grab a pot for the boys’ favorite— spaghetti— he really began to notice the big change in his body. While he still watched everything he ate, and was still going for jogs on the treadmill, he was really beginning to get out of shape. 

When he stood straight up, he put the pot down and braced himself on the counter as his nose got stuffy, and tears began to pull from his eyes. 

“You’re never gonna play football again, Danny,” he said aloud as he looked down at the counter. A few of his tears fell into puddles there. “You’re just going to be at home watching Julian live out your dreams as you keep getting fatter and fatter.” 

A sob came from deep down in his chest, and he choked on his breath. “Jules isn’t going to want any part of you anymore.” 

When he went to wipe his eyes, he was interrupted by Bradley’s voice calling from upstairs; which meant Dylan would be following soon. “Daddy! Papa!” 

He sighed and wiped his tears away with the bottom of his shirt, then made his way up the stairs as quickly as he could. When he got to the room, he pushed the door open, to see Bradley in a ball under the covers. 

Danny let out a long breath and slowly moved in to sit next to the ball of Bradley. “Buddy? What’s wrong?” 

Bradley’s watery blue eyes popped up over the covers. “I-I had a nightmare,” he mumbled and sniffled a bit. 

“Hey, Hey,” Danny whispered and pulled the covers down a bit. “Don’t cry… come here.” He opened his arms and looked down at Bradley with a loving look. 

Brad slowly crawled from under the covers and into Danny’s lap, where he looked up at Danny with sad eyes. “What happened, Brad?” 

Brad fisted the left sleeve of Danny’s shirt and sniffled. “There… was a monster… and he was trying to eat me… and Dylan… and… it was big and green and scary! I-I… it was so scary Papa,” the three year old cried and rested his head against Danny’s chest. 

Danny wrapped his arms around Brad and rubbed Brad’s back. “Shh, Shh… it’s okay, Bud. You’ll be okay…” 

“I- Is Dylan okay!? Papa! Is Dylan okay,” Brad sobbed as he pulled back at looked at Danny with scared blue eyes. 

Danny sucked in a breath and slowly got up with Brad still in his arms. “Why don’t we go check, bud? It’s almost lunch time! I’m making spaghetti!” 

Brad stopped throwing a fit and looked up at Danny with suddenly happy eyes. “Really!?!?” 

“Yeah, Buddy,” Danny mumbled as they made their way to Dylan’s bedroom next door. When Danny pushed the bedroom door open, he was surprised to find the light already on. “Dyl!? Are you coloring already!?” 

The two year old was lying on his stomach and coloring a coloring book with colored pencils. Dylan looked up at him, excitement in his brown eyes. “Yeah Papa! You were sleeping when I got up! I colored!” 

A dull throbbing began in Danny’s back, so Danny leaned down to place Brad on his feet. “Do you want to stay in here and draw with your brother while I make lunch?” Brad looked up at Danny and nodded rapidly. 

“Okay. I’ll call you down when lunch is ready then,” He mumbled and slowly shuffled out of the room. His back began to bother him more with every step. When he got down stairs, he fell onto the couch and curled up in his own little ball as the negative feelings began to resurface. 

The front door opened, closed, and then there was a pause. “Danny,” Julian’s soft voice asked. Danny flinched a bit. Julian let out a sigh and shuffle over to Danny, where he got on his knees and put a hand on Danny’s bicep. “Bubs?” 

Danny peaked his head up and locked eyes with Julian. “Oh Bubs… What’s wrong? Have you been crying?” 

All Danny could do was nod. He couldn’t help but let a few more tears fall as he looked up at Julian. Julian sighed and wiped the tears away. “What happened? Are you okay?” 

Danny took a second, but eventually shook his head, because no… He wasn’t okay. He was far from it. “N-No… I-I… I can’t do this.” 

Julian’s eyebrows were now scrunched together. “Can’t do what? Danny…” 

“I-I’m not like you! I can’t just be pregnant and magically keep my abs! No! I’m going to get fat as fuck and then you’re not going to love me! And the kids are going to hate me because I won’t be able to go anywhere or do anything! I’m a shitty excuse for a fucking person,” Danny mumbled and quickly turned his head away so the cushion of the couch muffled his cries. 

“Danny,” Julian began and ran his hands through Danny’s dark hair, “Are you kidding me? I could never stop loving you. I-I… Danny… Please don’t feel that way. I’ll always love you… Dyl will always love you… And Brad will always love you. You’re perfect, absolutely perfect. I wouldn’t want anyone else to be carrying my child. I wouldn’t want to spend my everyday with anyone else.” 

Danny sniffled and looked up. When his eyes locked with Julian’s he nearly stopped breathing. The look on Julian’s face was one of hurt. “You’re perfect, Danny. And your body? Who cares! You’re carrying a baby-- My baby! I want you to get big, because I know you’ll be swelling with something that we’ve made from our love.” 

“You mean that,” Danny asked after a second. His heart was racing as he looked up at Julian. Those icy blue eyes were full of love and caringness. 

“Of course I do, Dola,” Julian mumbled as he leaned in and placed a small kiss on Danny’s lips. “I love you so much. I don’t ever want you to feel that way. No matter what you look like… I’ll always love you and care for you. You’ve given me so much, and I want to give you all that and more in return.” 

Danny began to cry tears of happiness. “I love you, Jules.” 

“I love you, too, Bubs.”

*** 

A week later, just a few hours before their appointment with Ashley, Danny and Jules decided to sit down with the boys and explain to them that they’d have a new sibling soon. 

They were waiting for Rob to come over, so they figured now was the perfect time— they could be distracted by Uncle Rob coming through the door if it went bad. 

“Dyl, Brad, Papa and I have something to tell you,” Julian mumbled as he sat down on the couch and looked at the two boys playing with their cars on the floor. 

They both looked up with wide, questioning eyes. Danny and Julian exchanged looked. Danny nodded at Jules. “Well… Papa is going to be having a baby,” Julian began. 

Brad’s blue eyes went wide, and Dylan only squinted up at them.

“You’re going to have a baby sister or brother,” Danny exclaimed. “So… I’m going to be…” He swallowed and took a breath, “getting bigger. I’ll have a belly until he or she is ready to arrive.” 

“Papa, did you eat a seed!? And now there’s a baby growing? Like when you eat a watermelon seed,” Dylan asked, quite confused. 

Danny chuckled at Dylan’s reaction, but Julian stayed silent as he looked down at Brad, who was completely silent. 

“No, Dyl, that doesn’t happen when you eat a watermelon seed,” Danny replied with a small smile. 

Next thing Danny knew, Julian was lunging forward and was swooping Brad up as tears began to roll down his cheeks. “Bradley, what’s wrong?” 

His big blue eyes looked from Julian to Danny and back to Julian, then began wailing. “I don’t want a brother or sister! I don’t want one! You, me, Papa, and Dylan are fine without a baby!” 

Danny sucked in a breath. Brad was completely fine when they told him about Dylan… and now it’s like it’s completely different. He wasn’t expecting Bradley to freak out. 

Dylan looked startled by his brothers sudden outburst, so Danny motioned for Dylan to crawl on the couch with him. Dylan quickly climbed up and looked contently up at Danny. He was almost instantly pulled into Danny’s lap where he tugged on Danny’s shirt. “When is brother or sister going to come?” He asked over Bradley’s crying and Julian’s hushes.

Danny sighed and rubbed Dylan’s back. “Sometime after Christmas… he or she will be a late Christmas gift,” Danny responded as he bounced Dylan up and down. 

“That’s so cool,” Dylan exclaimed as he threw his hands up in excitement. 

“Yeah, Bud it kinda i-,” Danny was quickly cut off by Bradley. 

The three year old pulled out of Julian’s touch and gave Julian’s shoulder a little shove. “No! I hate you! I don’t want another brother! And I don’t want a sister!” 

Danny’s jaw dropped as the toddler ran off. He quickly made eye contact with Julian, who looked like he was ready to burst out in tears. “Hey, Dyl… why don’t you go up to your room and color? Uncle Rob will be here soon.” 

Dylan’s eyes lit up as he rapidly nodded and jumped off the couch, then ran up the stairs. Danny slowly moved from the couch and onto the floor in front of Julian. “Babe,” he began as he put his hands on Julian’s knees. His brown eyes locked with Julian’s watery blue ones. “Are you okay?” 

“I-I… he’s never said he hated me,” Julian mumbled as he shook his head. “I just… don’t understand… I thought he’d be happy.” 

Danny sighed and moved his hands up to Julian’s cheeks. “You can’t please everyone, Jules. I-I… it’s okay, babe.” At the same time, he couldn’t necessarily blame Bradley… because he didn’t want things to change either. He was still wasn’t completely sure how he felt about the whole situation. 

Before Julian could say anything else, he was interrupted by the door bursting open, and Rob coming in. 

“Hey guys! Woah! What’s wrong? Did you just tell them,” Rob asked as he looked down at them with questioning brown eyes. 

Danny looked up at him and nodded. “Brad didn’t take it too well. He flipped out at Julian,” Danny mumbled as he looked back to Julian. “Babe, we should probably go. We don’t want to be late.” 

Julian let out a sigh and nodded. “I-I… yeah… you’re right.” Danny got up first and pulled Julian up. 

After giving instructions to Rob, they were out the door and off to Ashley’s. Once they got there, and we’re situated in a room, the two finally talked. 

“He doesn’t mean that, ya know Jules,” Danny mumbled as he grabbed Julian’s hand. 

Julian pulled Danny’s hand up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on it. “I-I… It hurts that that was how he reacted. That was the last way I expected him to act.” 

“I… it’s like when he said he loved you and not me. It hurt… but we both know that he didn’t mean it,” Danny mumbled and squeezed Julian’s hand a bit tighter. 

“It just sucks,” Julian pouted. Danny sighed and leaned down, where he placed a small kiss on Julian’s lips. 

A second later, there was a knock, and Ashley moved in. “Hey guys, how are you,” she greeted with a large smile on her face. 

“Good,” both men said in unison. 

“Julian! It’s great to see you again! I’m glad Danny’s finally told you,” she mentioned as she pulled the ultrasound machine over. 

“Me too,” Julian joked, but shot Danny a sigh ways glance. “I’m glad that we’ll have a couple more appointments before the season than we had before… it’s hard to schedule when the season is full blown… now we’ve knocked like two out of the way because the baby is due earlier.” 

She nodded. “That’s true. We are looking at January 19th as a due date. That would be before the Super Bowl… if Danny delivers early again, too, the baby should be well enough to even make a trip to the Super Bowl as well.” 

Julian’s eyes went wide. “That’s a major bonus! And it’s even more of an inspiration to make it there. Danny! The whole family could go! Isn’t this great,” Julian perked up as he squeezed Danny’s hand tighter. 

Danny slowly nodded in agreement-- not very happy at the fact that he wouldn’t be able to be on the field with Julian. “Yeah, Jules… It is.” 

Sensing the tension in Danny’s voice, Ashley spoke up. “Well, lets see your baby. Danny still hasn’t seen it. And if you guys want we can find out the gender today,” she informed as she leaned down and picked up the gel off the bottom of the ultrasound machine. 

Danny and Julian exchanged looks. “Up to you, Bubs,” Julian mumbled. Danny could tell that Jules wanted to know.

He smiled back at Julian and then turned to Ashley. “I think we can wait another four and a half months to find out,” Danny informed as he leaned back and pulled his tshirt up, so she could put the gel on his oh so slowly expanding abdomen. 

Julian let out a huff, but couldn’t help but smile at the sight under Danny’s shirt. In the past week, Danny began to sleep in an oversized shirt, because he didn’t like looking down at his bare abdomen… He didn’t even want to think about the stretch marks that would be there in no time. 

“Okay. That is completely fine. Are you ready to see your baby for the first time,” She asked as she looked between the two men. 

Danny was too upset at the first appointment to actually see what the baby looked like, so here he was… With Julian… Both of them seeing their third-- and probably final-- child for the first time. 

The lights were dimmed, and then the machine was fired up. After a minute of so of Ashley focusing, she turned the machine so the couple could see it. “Here is your baby, absolutely perfect size for hysr short of five months. And it looks to be in a good position. Would you like photos of the ultrasound?” 

“Yes, please!” Julian’s eyes were bright as he looked straight ahead at the ultrasound. “Danny! That’s our baby!” 

This was oddly like the first time they’d ever seen an ultrasound of one of their kids-- only this time… the tables were flipped. Right there on the screen in front of Danny was the baby… The thing that was keeping him off the field in his prime time. He was still getting better and better everyday; now that had to be paused… And he didn’t know if he would actually recover from it. It made him sick. 

“Danny, Bubs, you see our baby? It’s so beautiful,” Julian mumbled as he leaped up and smashed his lips into Danny’s before Danny could reply. “I’m so happy.” 

Danny shot Julian a fake smile and nodded. “Y-Yeah, babe… Absolutely perfect.” 

When they got home, Julian was bouncing off a new high, while Danny was sleeping in the passenger's seat of the car. Julian sighed when he shifted the car into park and looked over at Danny, because he had been speaking to himself for most of the ride. 

He slid out of the car, moved around to Danny’s side, and leaned over him to unbuckle the seatbelt. Due to the way that Danny was leaning back, his shirt was pulled tight against his body, showing off his no longer perfectly abdomen. 

Julian smiled when he lifted Danny up out of the car, and Danny curled into his arm touch. He managed to get into the house without Rob or the boys noticing him, so they must’ve been outside. He brought Danny to their bedroom, kissed him on the forehead and then slowly made his way down the steps. 

When he moved to go outside, he stopped to watch the view of the kids playing with Rob. Rob was running away with the football, pretended to fall and then the two boys jumped on top of them to keep him down. Julian chuckled as he slid the door opened, and made his way out of the house. 

“Hey guys, were you guys good for Uncle Rob,” Julian asked as he stood in front of them and put his hands on his hips. 

Dylan nodded. “Yes, Daddy! He even made us lunch! Grilled Cheese! So good!” Dylan had a big toothy smile.

Julian looked down at Brad, who was looking up at him with big blue eyes. “Daddy,” he began and then ran forward to Julian, where he wrapped his arms around his legs. “I’m sorry.” His voice was muffled as he mumbled into Julian’s legs. 

He looked up at Rob and mouthed ‘thank you’. He bent down and lifted Bradley up into his arms. “It’s okay Bubs. I understand that you like everything the way it is right now, but you know what? You love Dylan right? Now you’ll learn to love even more… And your heart is only going to get bigger-- Just like Papa and I.” 

Bradley only nodded up at Julian. 

*** 

In September, when the preseason started, Danny was already five and a half months along. He was really beginning to show, wouldn’t fit in any of his shirts normally, and it was nearly impossible for him to to button his jeans, so he was extremely self conscious and didn't want to leave the house. 

When Julian was headed out for the first preseason game, he got ready and then sat down next to Danny on the couch. He placed a hand on Danny’s knee, because Danny didn’t like his protruding stomach to be touched like he did the last time around. “Are you sure you don’t want to come to the game,” he asked as he looked at Danny with concerned blue eyes. 

Danny’s sad brown eyes looked back at Julian as he shook his head. “No. I’m fine. I don’t want to go anywhere,” he mumbled and let out a sigh as he turned back to the Disney movie that was on the screen. 

Julian sighed and shook his head a bit. He took his hand off of Danny’s knee and motioned toward their sons, who were lying on the floor, staring up at the TV. “They need to leave the house with someone other than me sometime, Danny. It’s not fair to them,” Julian pointed out as he angled himself more toward Danny. 

Danny rolled his eyes. “The public doesn’t need to see me like this, Julian! I have absolutely nothing that can hide this,” he motioned down to his stomach, where the shirt he was wearing was pulled tight. 

“Danny… Bubs… It’s all apart of having a baby! What's so different this time than the way it was last time with him,” he asked as he motioned down toward Dylan on the floor. “At least then you were willing to leave the house just a little bit. Now all you do is sit around.” 

“Why, Jules? Maybe because I’m so fat and only going to get fatter when I didn’t even ask for it! I’ll be made the laughing stock of the whole damn region of New England,” Danny complained as he shot Julian an unamused look. 

Julian sighed as he looked at the time. “I’ve gotta go, Bubs. Don’t forget to watch the game. I love you and I’ll be back tonight.” He leaned over and kissed the corner of Danny’s mouth as he slid off the couch. “Alright, boys Dad’s gotta go!” 

“Play safe,” Danny muttered as he crossed his arms over his stomach and watched Julian interact with Brad and Dylan. 

Julian squatted down in front of the boys and wrapped his arms around them, pulling them into one big hug. “Bye Dyl… Bye Brad.” He kissed both of them on the foreheads and then pulled away to stand up. “Be good for Papa. I’ll be back later. Love you guys.” 

He shot one more look at Danny, then made his way out of the house without another word. “Papa, can we go to one of Daddy’s games this season,” Brad asked, looking up at Danny with wide blue eyes. 

Danny sucked in a breath and began to shake his head. “I don’t know, Bud. I don’t think I’ll be leaving the house very often.” His voice was soft, hoping that Bradley would understand how whipped he was. 

The look Bradley was giving him turned into one of resentment. “What!?! I wanna see Daddy play! I wanna play football just like him! You’re no fun! It’s not fair,” he practically yelled and stomped off in the direction of the play room. 

Danny sucked in a shaky breath as his eyes began to water. Dylan was looking up at him with confused brown eyes. Danny tried to keep himself together for Dylan, but the caring person that Dylan is, he saw right through it. 

“Papa,” he began as he crawled up on the couch next to Danny and began to wipe his tears away. “It’s… It’s okay. Don’t be sad. I love you. Please don’t be sad.” 

Danny unattractively sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dylan. He cried into his shoulder as he pulled Dylan even closer. Dylan was careful not to knee Danny’s stomach as he adjusted himself so his arms could be wrapped around Danny’s neck. 

After a minute or two, Dylan pulled away and wiped Danny’s tears away with his small hands. “It’s okay, Daddy. I love you. The new baby will love you too.” 

“Thank you, Dyl. I love you, too.” Danny was thankful to have Dylan… He felt like he was going through the pregnancy alone sometimes. Julian seemed like he was being kinda cruel, because Danny was getting self conscious… But, the way Danny was it… Julian was just being a fucking hypocrite because he was unbelievably self conscious throughout his entire pregnancy. 

Later that night when Julian got home, both kids were already in bed, and Danny was just sliding into bed. He pulled his oversized sleeping shirt over his head when Julian burst into the room. “Hey Babe, good game,” Danny mumbled, even though he didn’t even watch the game. He couldn’t bare to watch the game-- he knew it was only preseason and starters wouldn’t get many plays… but he was still jealous and couldn't do it. 

“Thanks Bubs,” Julian replied as he crawled over on the bed and kissed Danny’s cheek. “I’m glad you watched. I already miss you on the sidelines.” 

Danny sighed and nodded. “I miss being on the sidelines,” He admitted with a shrug and he leaned back into the pillows, letting his back pop multiple times along the way. He let out a huff as he slowly closed his eyes. “I’m so sore right now. The baby is beginning to move, too. So it’s probably gonna keep me up all night.” 

“I know what could keep you up all night,” Julian said with a cheeky smile playing on his face. 

Danny rolled his eyes as he rested on his side, turned away from Julian, and mumbled, “Shut up, Jules. I just need sleep.” 

Julian sighed and slowly got off the bed so he could get ready for bed. 

*** 

When it came to the regular season, Danny was already at six months, and was beginning to get crabbier and crabbier. He was annoyed with how much of a brat Bradley constantly was, and he was also frustrated to see Julian walking out the door just about everyday to do what he loved most: Football. 

It was just a few hours before Julian had to leave first game of the season when Danny felt most in the dumps, if thats was even possible. 

He was sitting on the couch, with Dylan’s head resting on his thigh so he could sleep when Julian came bounding down the steps with an extra hop in his step. “I’ll be thinking about you, babe,” Julian mumbled as he moved over to the couch and bent down to smash his lips into Danny’s. 

Danny let out a huff, but nodded. “I love you,” he replied. He didn’t want to think about football, it made his heart hammer. “Please come back in one piece.” Danny’s brown eyes had sadness playing in them as he looked up at Julian. 

Julian brought a hand up and rested it on Danny’s stubbly cheek. “Of course, Bubs. I love you.” Julian’s other hand trailed down, and was placed on the top of Danny’s swelling abdomen. “Is that the head?” He raised an eyebrow. 

Danny’s breath hitched and he nodded. “Yeah, it’s been leaning further and further back… Like right against my ribs,” Danny mumbled as he tried to lean away from Julian’s touch. 

Julian sighed, getting the message. He took his hand off of Danny’s bump and leaned in to place a soft kiss on Danny’s lips. “I’ve told Bradley to be good. I know how crazy he’s been lately. He’s in the playroom playing with blocks, which means he won’t be out until you guys watch the game,” Julian informed as he stood straight up and quickly ran a hand through Danny’s hair. 

Danny nodded. “Okay, yeah. Thank you! I can’t wait to see you play later,” Danny mumbled as he shifted a little. He didn’t want to wake Dylan… But he also didn’t want to give off that he definitely wasn’t going to be watching the game. 

“Alright, Bubs, I love you… I’ll see you tomorrow if you’re still asleep when I get back tonight,” Julian said as he picked his duffle bag, and made his way out of the house. 

Danny sighed as he moved both himself and Dylan so his slightly swollen feet could be elevated. Dylan shuffled in his sleep, but snuggled closer to Danny. Danny couldn’t help but smile; at least one of his kids loved him. 

Later that night, after dealing with another one of Brad’s tantrums, Danny got Dylan to bed… and slowly slid into his own bed just minutes later. He could no longer fit into his normal shirts, so he had to wear an oversized shirt, but when he slid into bed, his shirt still rode up-- causing him to roll his eyes and rub at his slow expanding bump.

Even though Danny felt far from okay with how his body was, he was kind of missing Julian. He missed having a chest to rest his head on, he missed the soft whispers Julian would say into his ear at night as they tried to fall asleep. 

After what seemed like in eternity, there was the sound of a door opening and closing down stairs, then the sound of someone going up the stairs. Their bedroom door swung open, and Julian came shuffling in quietly. “Hey, Bubs… You’re still awake,” Julian said in a hushed voice. 

Danny nodded as he propped himself up on his elbows. He looked even more pregnant than he was because his stomach was popping out from under his shirt. “Y-Yeah. I-It’s hard to sleep without you sometimes… When she’s kicking… She makes me want to lean into your warm touch-- be perfectly content with life.” 

Julian squinted at Danny, and stripped down to his underwear as he crawled under the covers. He motioned for Danny to lean into him. Danny obliged, and Julian pulled Danny into him, careful not to touch Danny’s bump, because Danny still wasn’t comfortable with it. He placed a kiss on Danny’s forehead before he whispered, “You think it’s a girl?” 

Danny nodded against Julian as he turned his head so it was resting against Julian’s warm bare chest. “Yeah… It has to be… We have two boys… We need to have a girl,” Danny muttered into Julian’s skin. 

“It would be nice to have a girl,” Julian admitted into Danny’s hair. “But honestly… I just want a healthy baby. Boy, girl… It doesn’t matter to me. Ten little fingers, ten little toes… A nose… ears… Mouth… Eyes… I’m happy.” 

“I-I… Yeah, you’re right babe,” Danny mumbled as he placed a light kiss on Julian’s chest. 

“Danny?” Julian asked after a moment of silence. Danny moaned in response, already half asleep. “Can I… Can I feel her kick? Please? I now know how you felt when I wouldn’t let you touch me… I… Just… please.” 

Danny sighed after a second, his dark brown eyes looking up at Julian, before he nodded. “Y-Yeah… Just… No… Skin on skin please… Just the shirt,” Danny whispered and let out a small yawn. 

With the arm that wasn’t around Danny, Julian moved so his hand was rested just above the hem of Danny’s shirt. He could feel light patters against his hand and smiled. “This… This right here is perfect. I’m so happy that we have this opportunity, Dola.” 

“I miss football,” Danny suddenly admitted with closed eyes as he brought a hand up and placed it on Jules’ flat abdomen. 

“I know you do, Dola… You’ll be out there next season. Don’t worry,” Julian mumbled as he placed a kiss on Danny’s forehead again. “Go to sleep. You need it. I love you.” 

“You too,” Danny muttered as he fell into a comfortable sleep. 

***  
“I’m sorry that I have to leave on your birthday, Bubs,” Julian whispered as he sat down next to Danny on their bed and leaned over to place a kiss on Danny’s lips. 

Danny sighed as he leaned back into the pillows he had propped up. “I-I… It’s okay. Get a win for me in San Fran tomorrow, okay,” Danny replied as he grabbed ahold of Julian’s hand. 

Julian nodded as he placed a hand on Danny’s leg. “We will. I promise you that. And remember, Rob is only a phone call away. He said he’d be willing to stay here too if you need it,” Julian reminded. 

Danny rolled his eyes in return. “I know Jules… But the dude had a sprained shoulder… the last thing he should be doing is trying to help his seven month pregnant friend with two crazy children,” Danny pointed out. He leaned back further, and his shirt rolled up on him. He sighed. “I’m way too fat! And I can see stretch marks from this angle… I don’t wanna see them in the mirror! Ugh!” He tried to pull his shirt down, but it instantly rolled back up. Danny was indeed right, he scratched at the most stretched out park of his stomach— just below the belly button, where is was extremely red. 

“Is it itchy again, Bubs,” Julian asked as he looked at Danny who was clearly uncomfortable. 

Danny nodded and closed his eyes. “I can rub some lotion on it before I go,” Julian offered as he looked at Danny with a concerned look. 

“N-No… I don’t… I’m disgusting… I don’t think you should touch me,” Danny mumbled and shook his head. “Go,” he added as he put his hand on Jules’ hand. “Don’t be late… Coach will be mad at you. I’ll be here when you get back… I love you.” 

Julian decided to trust Danny and nodded. “You’re not disgusting. You’re perfect and I love you. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Dola. I’ll play my heart out for you and our newest edition to the family.” He leaned over and placed a small kiss on Danny’s lips. “I’m going to go say goodbye to the boys… You said you were about to get up and make them lunch, right?” 

Danny nodded. “Yeah, Dyl as been begging for Pancakes and Brad has been begging for waffles… So we will be having breakfast for lunch,” Danny replied as he slid off their bed and stood in front of Julian. 

Julian wrapped his arms around Danny and pulled him as close as possible. “I love you. Don’t work yourself too hard.” He smashed his lips into Danny’s. 

“I won’t, Jules… I love you… Now go! You don’t wanna miss the flight!” He playfully pushed Julian out of their bedroom. 

Later that night, just after dinner, Danny sat down with the kids at the kitchen table and ate some of the cake Julian bought him for his birthday-- of course he was craving triple chocolate cake. When the finished eating, he grabbed the plates and forks, then moved to do the dishes. After he was finished, he turned around to see both of the kids coloring at the table, so he decided to sit down and color with them. 

“Papa,” Brad asked, looking Danny directly in the eyes. 

“Yeah, Buddy,” he asked as he put a crayon down and looked up at Bradley with raised eyebrows. 

“For your birthday can we go see Daddy play? I really miss seeing Daddy play,” Brad asked, eyes big, with a pout on his face. 

Danny felt a pang in his stomach. “I-I don’t think so Buddy. I can’t really go anywhere… And Daddy is playing on the other side of the United States,” Danny said as he folded both of his hands on the table. 

Brad’s lips began to quiver… And then it was like a bomb set into motion… He just began wailing. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate the baby! I wanna see Daddy play! You suck!” 

“Bradley,” Danny mumbled as he slowly got up and moved toward Brad, but Brad jumped down from the chair and shoved lightly as Danny’s thighs. 

“No! I hate you! Leave me alone!” 

Danny had enough when Brad pushed him. “Bradley James Edelman! You will not speak to me like that! And you will not push me like that again. Go to your room and think about what you just did,” Danny said sternly as he pointed a finger down at Brad and motioned for him to head upstairs. 

Brad looked up at Danny with squinted eyes as he moved forward to push at Danny again. “That’s fucking it,” Danny snapped as he looked down at Brad. “Go to your fucking room right this instant! I won't be letting you out u-,” Danny cut himself off as a pain tore through his entire body and he nearly collapsed on the floor. He got a hand on the table as he fell back into the chair he was just in. He turned all of his attention away from the bawling three year old, and to the liquid that was on the floor. He looked down at it in shock, before he could do anything else, another pain took over his whole body. 

He clutched at the table and threw his head back as he moaned out. “Ah! Fuck!” After the pain went away, Danny looked at Dylan through watery eyes. “H-Hey bud… Can you… Please slide me m-my phone?” 

Dylan looked absolutely terrified. No only has he never seen Danny brust like that, but he never saw his Papa that week before. His lips began to quiver as he slid the phone that was by him over to Danny. 

Danny sucked in a shaky breath and picked up the phone. He instantly found Rob’s contact and hit call. After a few rings, the goofballs voice was on the other end. 

“Hey Dola! Happy birthday man! I was just gonna text you,” Rob’s cheery voice answered. 

Before Danny could speak, another again found its way through his boys. “Ahh! Rob… I-I’m… I’m in labor! My water just broke,” Danny practically yelled as he focused on the ground. 

“Wait what?! You’re only like seven months! Oh shit! I’ll be right over,” Rob practically yelled as there was a shuffling on the other end of the phone. “I-I… Are you okay by yourself for right now? When I hang up… Call Ashley and then we can go! Oh my god!” 

An hour later, Rob has Danny in the front seat of his car, crushing his hand… And two extremely confused children in the back of the car. When they got to the hospital, Ashley was waiting outside with a wheelchair. 

She easily helped Danny into it and then sped him down the hall before he could say a single word to his sons or Rob. She, along with a few nurses, got in stripped and into proper clothing. “Okay, Danny… The baby has already moved into the birth canal… Which means you’ll have to push,” She spoke up after a quick check of the situation. 

“What,” Danny asked as his eyes went wide. “I-Isn’t that more of a recovery time?!” Another pain shot through his body, and tears pulled from his eyes. “Oh my god! I can’t do this!” He thought for a second, something-- or rather someone-- was missing… Julian! Oh shit! Julian! “J-Julian isn’t here! Oh my god!” 

More tears ran down his face. He left so alone. Rob had to be with the boys… And… God… He better call Julian. “T-Tell Rob that he needs to call Jules! Oh my god!” 

Ashley shook her head. She pulled out her phone, typed something and then handed the phone to Danny. There was a ring, and then another… And then Julian’s voice came through. “Hey! This is Jules… I’m not able to make it to the phone right now! Just drop a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!” 

There was a long beep. Danny let out a sob. “Hey Jules… I-I… I’m in labor… I… I need you… Please come home. Oh god! No!” A pain shot through his entire body. He pulled the phone from his ear and disconnected the call. 

“Danny… You’ve gotta push now,” Ashley practically screamed. One of the nurses moved up to Danny to hold his hand as Ashley moved toward his nether region. “Okay… On Three I’m going to need you to push for me, Danny… One… Two… Three…” 

He gripped the nurses hand and pushed as hard as he could. “Okay, great… One three again… One… Two… Three…” 

After repeating the process a few times, Ashely put both hands on Danny’s knees and looked down at him. “One last time, okay? The your baby will be here.” 

Another pain tore through Danny’s body and he pushed as hard as he possibly could. Through the haze that took over his entire body, he swore he didn’t hear a cry… But he thought that was just him as he slowly drifted off into a numb sleep. 

When Danny woke up again, Rob was sitting at his bedside, Dylan in his lap, and Bradley passed out in the reclining chair by the window. “Rob? Is… Is the baby okay,” Danny slowly asked, through squinted eyes. 

Rob gave him an insure look. “I-I don’t know… They’re doing quite a few tests right now. They won’t tell me anything,” Rob informed with a sigh. 

Before Danny could say anything else, Dylan looked up at him with worried eyes. “Papa,” he mumbled as he made grabby hands for Danny. 

Danny sighed and motioned for Rob to slide Dylan over. “Careful, Bud.” 

Dylan lied down next to Danny and placed his head on Danny’s chest. “Are you okay, Papa? You scared me.” 

“Y-Yeah bud,” Danny mumbled as little pains shot through his body, but he wrapped his arms tightly around the two year old anyway. 

Dylan just stayed there and cried into Danny’s chest as Danny rubbed his back soothingly. “It’s okay buddy,” he whispered sleepily. Dylan was asleep in seconds. 

“What time is it,” Danny asked as he looked over toward Rob. 

Rob sighed. “It’s about three AM right now. I-I… I don’t know if Jules got any of our messages yet. I know he said he was going to be with his Family today… but he normally checks his phone.” 

Danny swallowed. “Can you please get me some water,” he asked. 

Rob leaned down and grabbed a brand new bottle of water. He uncapped it and handed it to Danny. Danny gratefully took a sip. “I want Jules,” Danny mumbled. “I-I… I want the baby to be okay.” 

Rob sighed. “I want all of that too, Dola.” 

About twenty minutes after Danny initially woke up, Ashley made her way into the room with a clipboard. “Hi Danny, how are you feeling,” she asked as she looked down at Dylan cuddled against Danny’s side. 

“O-Okay. Is the baby okay,” he instantly asked with dad brown eyes. 

“It’s fine for now. It’s in a stable condition. Would you like the wait for Julian to see it? It’s easier to explain a lot when you’re there to see,” she explained as she gave Danny a stiff look. 

“I-I… wait for Jules, please.” 

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything,” she mumbled and let out a sigh. “Do you need any pain medication?” 

Danny let out a sigh and shook his head. “No… I’ll just sleep and wait for Jules.” 

She nodded slowly and made her way out of the room. Danny slowly drifted off a few minutes later. 

When Danny woke up again, it was to Rob speaking, and sunlight coming through the windows. “No, Buddy. It’s not your fault. It’s okay,” he mumbled. 

Brads quiet cried filled the room. “I did this!” He turned to Danny and his eyes went wide. “I’m sorry Papa. I didn’t mean to!” 

Danny sighed and motioned for Brad to come over on the side opposite of Dylan’s. “I’m sorry,” he sobbed into Danny’s shoulder. 

Danny wrapped an arm around him and kissed his forehead. “No, Buddy. It’s not your fault. Don’t feel that way.” Brad cried himself to sleep in Danny’s arms. 

About twenty minutes later, Julian came rushing into the room. He had tears running down his face his hair was a mess and he looked extremely frantic. “Danny!? Oh my god… you’re okay.” 

He collapsed in a chair on the side of the bed and grabbed Danny’s hand. “Please tell me you’re okay. Oh my god. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” 

Danny sighed and grabbed Julian’s hand. “I’m okay, babe.” That’s What Danny was saying, but in reality, he was close to tears. 

“I’ll take the boys so you can talk,” Rob whispered as he swooped in and took both boys away with one little movement. 

Julian and Danny sat there, Julian grasping Danny’s hand as he sniffles. “Bubs,” Julian started. 

Danny broke down sobbing. “This is all my fault! I spent too much time being jealous of you for playing football… and Then Brads been such a hassle… I yelled at him… and then it all happened. I’m so sorry, Jules. I don’t know if the baby is gonna make it. It’s in the NICU… I know that much… but… oh god, I’m so sorry.” Danny began to lose control of his breathing. “I’m such a shitty person!” 

Julian jumped up and pulled Danny into his arms. “No, bubs… no… it’s not your fault. It’s… it’s okay.” Julian sobbed back into Danny’s shoulder. “I love you. It’s okay… let’s… is Ashley around?” 

Danny sighed and nodded. He pulled away from Julian and pressed the button on the remote. In a few seconds she was strolling through the door. “Hello Jules, Danny… uh… Danny do you feel well enough to go down to NICU in a wheelchair?” 

Danny nodded.

Soon enough, they were just strolling into the NICU to a incubator labeled “Edelman - 3 pounds 4 Ounces”... Danny perked up to see into the incubator, where a little baby was in a diaper that was too big for its body, it had wires connecting to multiple parts of its body, and it’s little blue cap was covering a small head. 

Danny sighed and looked up at Julian. “He’s so small Julian,” Danny mumbled as he looked up at Julian with watery eyes. 

Julian looked down at Danny with the same look and squeezed Danny’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay Bubs. Tough times don’t last…” his breath got stuck in his throat. 

“Tough people do,” Danny finishes the sentence through a sob. “W-what should we name him, Jules?” He wiped his tears and grabbed Julian’s hand. 

“I want his middle name to be Daniel,” Julian instantly said. 

Danny sighed. “Jacob,” he asked as he looked up with scrunched eyebrows. 

Jules shook his head. “Too common… what about Willie?” 

Danny looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Like my dad?” 

“Yeah Bubs… he’s a strong man.” Danny shook his head… “Aaron?” 

“Like as in Rodgers? Yeah, no. If he’s gonna be named after any quarterback it’s Tommy.” 

Danny rolled his eyes. “Anthony?” 

Julian rolled his eyes this time. “Could you be anymore Italian?! Ugh! What about Ethan?” 

Just then there was a little bit of movement and a little sound coming from the bassinet. 

The couple exchanged looks. “Ethan Daniel Edelman it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope y’all liked it! Feedback is always appreciated!


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